Journey to the WestAn overview by

马汉明

西游记Xī Yóu Jì

西 = West游 = Journey记 = Record

a.k.a. Journey to the West

HistoricalBackground

A Page from the Kōzanji version

• The novel is considered one of the four great Chinese classics.

• The earliest known written edition was published sometime in the 13th century. It is known as the Kōzanji version ( 高山寺 ) because a copy was found in a Japanese temple with that name.

• The complete 100 chapter edition was published anonymously in 1592 .

• Wú Chéngēn ( 吴承恩 , 1500–1582), a poet and minor government official, has generally been considered the author since 1923.

• More current scholarship, however, has cast doubt on Wu’s connection.

• The novel is based on the historical journey of the famous Tang Dynasty monk Xuánzàng ( 玄奘 , 602-664).

• He traveled to India in defiance of an imperial decree in order to gain Buddhist sutras that were not available in China at the time.

• He lived in India from 629-645.

• When he returned to China, he brought back with him over 600 new texts.

• He worked on translating them from Sanskrit into Chinese until his death in 664.

• He is celebrated as one of the most famous monks in Chinese history.

The Narrative

A monkey was born from a magic stone sitting high atop the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.

After proving himself in a test of bravery, he was made the ruler of all monkeys, thus

becoming the “Monkey King.”

However, the Monkey king grew older and

started looking for a way to stave off death. He

searched the world over and eventually found a Daoist sage who taught him not only the secrets of immortality, but vast

magic powers.

He could transform into anything, call on gods and spirits to do his

bidding, and even fly on clouds.

The sage also gave him the religious name …

Sūn Wùkōng

孙悟空

Sun Wukong returned home to teach his children the skills he had learned, but soon discovered he was far too strong to wield mere earthly weapons. And so one of his

advisors told him to seek out a suitable one in the undersea palace of the Eastern Dragon King.

There, the Eastern Dragon King ordered his aquatic generals to bring the Monkey King a spear, a reclining-moon knife,

and a halberd weighing thousands of pounds each.

But no matter …

… what weapon he tried …

…it was too light or broke in his hands.

The only weapon the Eastern Dragon King had left was a huge iron pillar once used by Yu the Great, a mythical king, to measure the depths of the water during the world flood.

It was now being used to fix the ocean in place.

It was known as the “As-you-wish

gold-banded cudgel” and

weighed 18,000 pounds. There was no other

weapon like it in the entire universe.

It could perform all manner of

transformations too.如意金箍棒 (Rúyì Jīngū Bàng)

Sun Wukong could make it as big …

…or as tiny as he wanted.

It could even multiply itself or transform

into any object, such as a razor-sharp

knife.

Sometime after returning from the Eastern Sea, Monkey’s

soul was dragged to the underworld by King Yama, the

god of death. This greatly angered Sun Wukong because

he was immortal and no longer subject to the cycle of

life and death. He immediately beat up the

denizens of hell and, using a brush, crossed out his name

and the names of all monkeys from the ledgers, thus making

them immortal too.

The Eastern Dragon King and King Yama

later went to heaven and

reported Monkey’s acquisition of the ocean-fixing pillar

and his defacement of the ledgers of life

and death to the August Jade

Emperor, ruler of the Cosmos.

The embodiment of the planet

Venus suggested that

they should invite him to

be the “Protector of the Heavenly

Horses” in order to keep

an eye on him.

Sun Wukong later learned the position was a joke and that he was not considered a full-fledged god. This greatly angered

him, and so he returned to earth and proclaimed himself the “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” (Qítiān Dàshèng) in rebellion.

The August Jade Emperor of

Heaven sent the 100,00 soldiers of the celestial army

to capture Sun Wukong, but they

were not his match.

Not even the demon-killer, third Prince Nezha could defeat him.

In the end, the Monkey King’s

power was too great, so

heaven had to grant him

godhood, as well as a new

position as the “Guardian of the Immortal Peach Grove.”

Sun Wukong, once again, became angry when he learned that he had not

been invited to the heavenly Queen Mother’s immortal peach banquet.

He put everyone to sleep with magic sleeping bugs

and drank all of the Emperor’s royal wine. He

then stole all of the immortal peaches and

longevity elixir and returned home to the

Mountain of Flowers and Fruits to share them with

his children.

Learning from the last engagement, the August Jade

Emperor sent the entire heavenly army along with

some of the most powerful Daoist and

Buddhist gods to capture the Monkey King. He even sent his nephew, Erlang Shen, who was a master of magic

transformations just like Sun Wukong.

The two battled with their weapons

and their transformations.

If Sun Wukong transformed into a water snake, Erlang

became a crane. This continued with Erlang countering all of the Monkey

King’s various transformations.

With the aid of a magic weapon, the Monkey King was

eventually captured and

returned to heaven for execution. However, they

could not kill him. Heavy blades, fire,

and lightning all had no effect.

The supreme Daoist god Laozi then suggested that they place

Sun Wukong into his Eight Trigram furnace to melt

him down.

Forty-nine days later, Laozi opened the

furnace expecting to see ashes, but Sun

Wukong emerged now even stronger

with golden eyes capable of

seeing through magic disguises.

When heavenly

forces failed in stopping the rampaging

monkey, the August Jade

Emperor called upon the

Buddha to intervene.

The Buddha bet Sun

Wukong that if he could jump out of his hand

he would make the

Monkey King the emperor of

heaven.

The Monkey King then used his great power to fly as far as he could until he reached five pillars at the end of the cosmos. He

wrote his name on them to prove he had been there.

Sun Wukong returned and demanded to

be made emperor, but

the Buddha told him the five

pillars had been his fingers and

that he had never left his

hand.

But before the Monkey King could do anything, the Buddha pushed him out of heaven and crushed him under his hand,

turning it into the Five Elements Mountain. Sun Wukong remained trapped under the mountain for a very long time.

Five-hundred years later, the Buddha

sent the Bodhisattva

Guanyin to find a suitable person to travel from China to India to receive

Buddhist scriptures needed to release

countless souls from the torments

of hell.

Guanyin chose the young monk Xuanzang

to retrieve the scriptures.

In a previous life, he had been the Golden Cicada Bodhisattva

who was exiled from heaven because he

dozed off during one of the Buddha’s sermons.

After centuries of imprisonment, Sun Wukong agreed to protect the monk in exchange for his freedom. Guanyin gave him three magic hairs that he could transform into anything,

such as an army of monkeys to do his bidding.

ce

Guanyin gave Xuanzang a golden headband that would keep the Monkey King under control. If Sun Wukong

became unmanageable, all the monk had to do was say the magic words and the band would tighten around the

monkey’s head, causing him severe pain.

Along their journey to India, the two met other disciples recruited by

Guanyin.

The first was a lecherous pig demon with the religious name …

Zhū Bājiè

猪八戒He was formerly the admiral of the celestial navy who sailed the Milky

Way, but he was later banished from heaven for flirting with a heavenly

fairy.

His weapon is the War Rake.

The second was a dragon prince that Guanyin had saved from execution.

He ate Xuanzang’s mount, so he was forced to

transform into a horse.

He is known as …

Bái Lóng Mǎ

白龙马(White Dragon Horse)

The third and final disciple was a water demon with the

religious name …

Shā Wùjìng

沙悟净He was formerly a general in

heaven, but was exiled to earth for accidentally

breaking a vase.

He became the monster of the Flowing Sands River.

His weapon is a monk’s spade.

Because Xuanzang had cultivated himself for ten

lifetimes, any person who ate his flesh would become

immortal. Therefore, demons constantly

sought out the “Longevity Monk.”

Some of the monsters that Sun

Wukong faced were …

King of Black Wind

A black bear who turned into a

demon. He later became

Guanyin’s gate guard.

His weapon is a spear.

Bull Demon King

A bull who turned into a demon. He

was the Monkey King’s

friend in the past.

His weapon is a trident.

v Lady Iron Fan

Wife of the Bull Demon King

Named for her magic fan which

produces hurricane like winds.

Red BoySon of Lady Iron Fan and the Bull

Demon King

His weapons are a spear and magic

fire which can destroy anything.

White Bone Demon

An evil spirit who can take on the

appearance of any person and discard the disguise at will,

leaving behind a corpse.

Her weapons are double swords.

Great King RhinocerosThe celestial pet ox of the Daoist god Laozi

who became a demon on earth.

His weapon is a magic bracelet that can

capture anything. It was originally used by Laozi

to capture Monkey during his rebellion

against heaven.

Scorpion Spirit of Pipa CaveA celestial scorpion

that used to listen to the Buddha’s sermons

in the Western Paradise. She was exiled to earth for

stinging the Buddha.

Her weapons are the trident and the “horse-

killing poison” of her stinger.

King Gold Horn and King Silver Horn

The immortal apprentices of

Laozi.

Their weapon is a magic gourd that sucks up anyone

who speaks before it. It can

hold 1,000 souls.

The Azure Lion

The celestial mount of the Bodhisattva

Samantabhadra who became a demon king

on earth.

He has the power to grow to any size. At one

point in the story, he captures the entire celestial army in his

mouth.

After 14 years of traveling and fighting

malcontents, the group finally made it

to India, where Xuanzang received the scriptures from

the Buddha.

Upon their return to China, Xuanzang

performed a Buddhist ceremony that released untold

numbers of souls from the torments of

hell.

For their efforts, Xuanzang and Sun Wukong are rewarded with Buddhahood, while Sha Wujing is made an Arhat. Because he

remained glutinous and lecherous throughout the journey, Zhu Bajie is only given the menial title of alter cleaner.

You may have unknowingly come into contact with this story before.

Does this guy look familiar?

Son Gokū from the Dragonball

franchise is actually based on

Sun Wukong.

In fact, Son Gokū is the Japanese

pronunciation of the Chinese

characters for Sun Wukong.

谢谢大家